Latest scams.

Investment scams

An investment scam involves either an email or celebrity endorsed social media ads (such as Facebook, WhatsApp etc) that encourages you to invest money or buy cryptocurrency (e.g bitcoin).

Scammers sometimes build relationships with their victims to gain trust and rely on you not doing your due diligence when making the investment. They sometimes offer a small return on your initial investment to put you at ease.

Here’s what to look out for:

• Emails or ads asking you to click on a link
• Prompts to enter your personal and bank details
• Direct messages from people on social media asking you to invest
• Someone claiming to be a broker but not providing their Australian Financial Services Licence and/or not able to meet in person or on video
• Facebook posts tagging people that feature a photo of a celebrity
• Dashboards showcasing fake returns – scammers can use real investment trading platforms to set up fake accounts and appear legitimate.

Important tips

• If the email, SMS or call sounds too good to be true – it usually is
• Beware of offers that sound legitimate but are low-risk, have a seemingly high return and put you under time pressure
• Beware of people posting on social media with links or attestations to celebrity endorsed investments (often cryptocurrency)
• Typical investment scams include real estate and property projects, superannuation, share and stock promotions, foreign currency and binary trading
• Check the individual you are dealing with has an Australian Financial Services licence or look them up on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Scammers may impersonate legitimate financial investment firms.

Impersonation scams

Scammers impersonate genuine institutions using marketing materials with company logos, as well as staff names and their departments, to gain access to your bank accounts, have you approve transactions or changes to your account, or offer investment opportunities.

Scammers often lead with competitive rates and include fake offer-ending dates to create a sense of urgency. Confirm legitimacy by checking the organisation’s website or contacting them directly.

Here’s what to look out for:

• Unsolicited emails that offer investment opportunities from fake email addresses
• Personalised links and/or pop-ups on websites and social media
• Investment rates that seem too good to be true and have an end date
• Attempts to gain your trust, with suggestions of what to say to your bank
• Requests for multiple payments to be made as ‘deposits’ to set-up an account
• Requests for personal banking details, including your account details, password and one-time step-up code.

Phishing scams

Phishing email and smishing (SMS phishing) scams use threats of fines, unpaid bills or fake transactions to get you to act quickly, encouraging you to provide your personal information without thinking about it.

They often pretend to be from larger, well-established organisations to gain your trust and will attempt to steal your online banking logins and credit card details or trick you into making a transaction. These look like a genuine email or SMS and can also contain links or attachments leading to malicious software or fake websites – often asking for personal information.

Steer clear of emails or SMS with:

• A sense of urgency where there is a penalty for not taking action
• False payment or refund messages such as “ATO – You have received a refund of $5,000”
• Poor spelling or grammar and similar (but not quite right) email addresses, names, logos and URLs
• Messages asking you to urgently verify your account or log in to pay a bill or fine
• Requests from overseas asking you to forward money or letting you know that you’ve won a prize
• Request to make unusual payment methods, such as gift cards or multiple accounts
• Links that don’t match the genuine organisations web address
• Requests to hand over personal details including a one-time SMS or email code
• Unfamiliar postal, delivery or courier services
• Requests to renew subscriptions.

Scammers will use phishing methods throughout the year (from LinkT, Medicare) as well as targeted seasonal campaigns where we need to be extra vigilant. (e.g. ATO, delivery scams).

See a list of some phishing scams under ‘Other scams’ section.

Important tips

• Contact organisations directly using details from their website – don’t use those supplied in an email or SMS
• We’ll never ask you to disclose, update or confirm personal or banking information in an email or SMS
• We’ll never send you a direct link to online banking
• Before clicking a link, hover your mouse over it to see where the URL will take you
• Never open an attachment you weren’t expecting, especially if it’s attached to a suspicious message.
• Always navigate to online banking and other websites yourself (don’t use links in emails or SMS) so you know they’re genuine.

Romance scams

Romance scammers hide behind fake online profiles which are designed to grab your attention. They gain your trust over time. Once they have this, they’ll try to manipulate you into believing they have health issues, family problems, travel expenses or other personal issues. They’ll usually ask for financial assistance or gifts and can be very convincing. It can be easy to believe they’re genuine because they’ve taken a long time to build a relationship with you.

Warning signs

• Fast and intense declarations of love
• A preference to communicate through email or instant messaging rather than an official dating platform
• A change from affection to desperation or threats if you don’t meet their requests
• They’ll usually make a small request first to test if you’ll comply with a bigger request later
• Preying on a vulnerability such as isolation, age or language barrier.

Remote access scams

These scammers aim to access your computer or device from a remote location to get your personal information. They’ll give a fake but credible story as to why they need it. Watch out if you’re contacted by someone claiming to be from a bank, phone company, government agency or computer software company needing to reset your password, verify your account, update security settings or improve your internet connection.

Important tips

• Never provide remote access, personal details or login details to anyone – especially if they’ve cold-called you
• If you think the caller is genuine, call them back on a number listed on their website – don’t call them on a number they give you
• Watch out for unusual pop-up screens claiming your computer is locked or has a virus
• Don’t use the details or visit the link from the message you’ve received as it’s likely fake
• Make sure your computer has up to date anti-virus software installed and run regularly.